Parenteral nutrition causes infection in at least eighteen babies

BBC report “A nine-day old baby who died after contracting a bacterial infection from suspected contaminated hospital feed has been named as Yousef Al-Kharboush. His parents are set to meet the coroner, hospital chiefs and representatives from ITH Pharma, which supplied the feed, later on Friday. They will discuss whether a post-mortem into the death of Yousef, from London Bridge, is needed.

Eighteen babies, many premature, have shown signs of blood poisoning. The cases are spread across nine hospitals in England. Public Health England and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are investigating the outbreaks. All the infected babies were being fed a liquid mixture of nutrients directly into their bloodstream, which happens when newborns are unable to eat on their own.